Got an ERP or CRM Error? Record It and Send It Over

With around 600 customers and as one of Canada’s largest Microsoft Dynamics ERP CRM partners one could say we receive one or two support requests now and again to our Encore Care queue.

Usually this will consist of a simple error message and sometimes a brief description of what the user was doing in the software leading up to the error.

Sometimes the error we are sent is a common error and we are able to immediately advise of the solution, but in a lot of cases we need more information to help us resolve the issue.

The first thing we often say is “please send us the exact error message you received”.

Copy and Pasting an Error Out of a Microsoft Dynamics ERP Solution

If you’re in an ERP solution such as Microsoft Dynamics NAV and see a message box (whether it’s an error log, a message or simply confirmation) on the screen (as long as it’s in focus) you can press “Ctrl+C” and then “Ctrl+V” to paste the error as text. It will look something like this:

Microsoft Dynamics NAV

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Posting Date is not within your range of allowed posting dates. In Sales Header Document Type=’Invoice’,No.=’103004′.

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OK

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Using Problem Steps Recorder to Send Over an ERP Error

Further to the exact error message (which can be extremely helpful), an accurate recreation of the steps is the second most useful piece of information customers can provide us. And luckily, there is a tool already in most operating systems that allows users to record their steps so they don’t have to write down every step.

This tool is provided by Microsoft and is called “Problem Steps Recorder”.

To run “Problem Steps Recorder” click the start button and run PSR.exe.

 

A simple toolbar will now appear.

When you are ready to record the steps; press the “Start Record” button on the bar and complete the steps to reproduce the issue.

A timer will start, and the buttons will change allowing me to pause the recording, stop the recording altogether and add comments.

Another handy item here is that as you are going through the steps you can add comments at any time as well as highlight a specific area of the screen to comment on.

When you finally reach the error you can press “Stop Record” to stop the recording.

And a new window will appear asking you to save the file as a ZIP. Give the file a meaningful name and store is in a location you will remember.

You can then send the file over either initially with the support request or as a follow up to a call already initialized.

If you open the zip file up you will see a MHTML file.

Opening the MHTML file will show all the steps taken and comments made while the recording was on.

Providing the file you generate using a tool like Problem Steps Recorder can greatly help speed up the resolution time on issues you submit. Send them over!